AUTHOR ARCHIVES

Josh Smith

January 24, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
A new report by Consumer Watchdog accuses the Obama administration of having an inappropriately close relationship with Google, allowing the company to escape scrutiny. The group released the report Monday, along with a letter calling on House Oversight chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to investigate Google's relationship with government agencies. "(Google)...

January 24, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
Google and Mozilla both announced that they will be adding "do-not-track" options to their Internet browsers, allowing users to prevent websites from gathering personal information and selling it to advertisers. Mozilla announced its plan Sunday with Google following suit Monday. According to a company statement, Google's "Keep My Op-Outs" feature...

January 21, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
As Congress seeks to stoke the American economy and spur job growth, the Patent and Trademark Office could play a key role, said PTO Director David Kappos Friday. Speaking to a crowd at a conference organized by Innovation Alliance, a group of companies seeking to protect patent rights, Kappos said...

January 21, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
Reviving an effort stretching back half a decade, a bipartisan group of senators took the latest crack at comprehensive patent reform Thursday, announcing that they will introduce a bill when the Senate returns next week. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and two Republican colleagues, Sens. Orrin Hatch of...

January 21, 2011
As Congress seeks to stoke the American economy and spur job growth, the Patent and Trademark Office could play a key role, said PTO Director David Kappos Friday. Speaking to a crowd at a conference organized by Innovation Alliance, a group of companies seeking to protect patent rights, Kappos said...

January 13, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
Federal officials say four-fifths of the nation's hospitals and 41 percent of private practice doctors are planning to take advantage of government incentives to switch to using electronic health records as the funding becomes available for the first time. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, touted the...

January 13, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
The NASA Inspector General's office released a report Wednesday detailing more than $2 million of waste and fraud involving NASA research grants provided in conjunction with the Small Business Administration's Small Business Innovation Research program. The audit was initiated after an investigation found unscrupulous applicants collected payments multiple times. The...

January 12, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
A group that advocates innovation in health care has released a poll showing broad support among Americans for increased government funding for research and development into new medical technologies. The Council for American Medical Innovation sponsored the poll that found that 58 percent of respondents say the federal government should...

January 12, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
Key Capitol Hill staffers say patent reform will come up in a big way in the 112th Congress, although what shape that reform takes remains to be seen. While some issues remain intractable, there is a growing consensus among lawmakers that half-baked patent reform would likely be worse than none...

January 10, 2011
FROM NEXTGOV
David Hunt has been named as inspector general for the Federal Communications Commission, a post he has been covering on an acting basis for a year and a half. Hunt has been at the FCC since 1996, after working as a trial lawyer. At the FCC he has worked as...